Mary Lynn Randall

Biography

Mary Lynn Randall, great-niece of James Ryder Randall, the namesake of the Randall Oak in New Roads, Louisiana, was born in Maryland, spent an active childhood at historic landmark farm Montrose, and now works for an Ohio horse racetrack. Her grandmother, Ruth Ketcham, was an avid photographer who left her archive of full-color New Orleans Mardi Gras slides shot from 1950-1960 to Randall. Randall worked with author-historian Charles Cassady to present her grandmother's never-before-published transparencies in book form.

Schedule

Will be posted when available.

Mardi Gras in Kodachrome

America's greatest party and America's most colorful city, in all their shades, shimmer here in a never-before-published 1950–1960 collection of photographs taken at New Orleans's annual Mardi Gras. Photographer Ruth Ketcham chose the revolutionary Kodachrome slide film to capture Carnival, its walking and parading krewes, bystanders, and masquers. Kodachrome's fade-resistant images preserve a bygone 1950s era, not only of Mardi Gras but also of a bustling French Quarter, alive again with Regal Beer ("Red beans and rice / And Regal on ice"), Dixieland jazz clubs, the burlesque dancers and temptations of Bourbon Street, and the shopper's paradise that was Canal Street.

Volunteer

Book-loving volunteers are essential to the Louisiana Book Festival's success. Whether it's escorting authors, guiding visitors, selling refreshments, working with children in the Young Readers Pavilion or other fun and rewarding assignments, the Louisiana Book Festival wants you to join the volunteer team.